It is with this theme that
we shall now deal primarily. Mental stimulation is comparatively rare, if the total
population of the planet is considered; nevertheless among the peoples of our Western
civilization and among the cream of the [454] Eastern civilization it is frequently to be
found. These particular problems can, for the sake of clarity, be divided into three
groups or categories:

Those
problems which arise out of intense mental activity, which produce undue mental focus and
emphasis, one-pointed intellectual approach and crystallization.

Those
problems which arise out of meditation processes, which have successfully brought about
illumination. This, in its due turn, produces certain difficulties, such as

Over activity o the mind, which grasps and sees too much.

The revelation of glamor and illusion. This leads to bewilderment and the unfoldment of
the lower psychism.

Over sensitivity to the phenomena of the inner light, registered in the etheric body.

Those
arising out of the higher psychic unfoldment, with consequent sensitivity to

Guidance

Cooperation with the Plan.

Soul contact.

The last
three groups of problems under sensitivity are most definite and real in the experience of
disciples.

The first group of problems (those arising out of intense mental activity) are those of
the pronounced intellectual and they range all the way from a narrow crystallized
sectarianism to that psychological phenomenon called idée fixe. They are largely the
problems of thought-form making, and by their means the man becomes the victim of that
which he has himself constructed; he is the creature of a Frankenstein of [455] his own
creation. This tendency can be seen working out in all schools of thought and of cultures
and is primarily applicable to the leader type of man and to the man who is
independent in his thought life and, therefore, capable of clear thinking and the free
movement of the chitta or mind stuff. It is necessary, therefore, in the coming days to
deal with this particular problem, for minds willbe met with increasing
frequency. As the race proceeds towards a mental polarization which will be as powerful as
the present astral polarization from which it is emerging, it will be found increasingly
necessary to educate the race in

The nature
of mental substance.

The triple
purpose of the mind:

As a medium for expressing ideas, through the construction of the needed embodying
thought forms.

As a controlling factor in the life of the personality through the right use of the
creative power of thought.

As a reflector of the higher worlds of perceptive and intuitive awareness.

Creative
thought is not the same as creative feeling and this distinction is often not grasped. All
that can be created in the future will be based upon the expression of ideas. This will be
brought about, first of all, through thought perception, then through thought concretion
and finally through thought vitalization. It is only later that the created thought form
will descend into the world of feeling and there assume the needed sensuous quality which
will add color and beauty to the already constructed thought form.

It is at this point that danger eventuates for the student. The thought form of an idea
has been potently constructed. It has taken to itself also color and beauty. It is,
therefore, capable of holding a man both mentally and emotionally. If [456] he has no
sense of balance, no sense of proportion and no sense of humor, the thought form can
become so potent that he finds he is an avowed devotee, unable to retreat from his
position. He can see nothing and believe nothing and work for nothing except that embodied
idea which is so powerfully holding him a captive. Such people are the violent partisans
in any group, in any church, order or government. They are frequently sadistic in
temperament and are the adherents of cults and sciences; they are willing to sacrifice or
to damage anyone who seems to them inimical to their fixed idea of what is right and true.
The men who engineered the Spanish Inquisition and those who were responsible for the
outrages in the times of the Covenanters are samples of the worst forms of this line of
thought and development.

People
tainted with this psychological trouble of blind adherence to ideas and of personality
devotions are found in every organization, every church, religion, in political and
scientific bodies and also in every esoteric and occult organization. They are
psychologically unsound and the trouble from which they suffer is practically contagious.
They are a menace, just as smallpox is a menace. This type of difficulty is not often
regarded as constituting a psychological problem until the time comes when the man is so
far afflicted that he becomes a group problem, or is regarded as peculiar or unbalanced.
It is, nevertheless, definitely a psychological disorder of a most definite kind,
requiring careful handling. It is also peculiarly difficult to handle, as the early stages
are apparently wholesome and sound. To work with some group or with some teacher is often
regarded as a definite means of psychological salvation, for it tends to extrovert the
mystic and thus give proper release for the recognized inflowing energy. As long as it
does this and nothing else, there is no [457] real danger, but the moment a man's vision
of other and greater possibilities becomes dim or begins to fade out, the moment a body of
doctrines or a school of thought or an exponent of any theory engrosses his complete
attention to the exclusion of all other points of view or possibilities, that moment the
seeds of psychological trouble can be duly noted and the man is in danger.